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This year ISB has made a few changes to the application process. The biggest being elimination of the "optional" essay and the "reapplicant essay". The essay topics are as follows:

Essay 1: If we were to admit just one more candidate to the Postgraduate Programme (PGP) at the ISB, why should it be you? (500 words)

Essay 2: Describe your short and long term career plans. How does the PGP fit in with those? (300 words)

Essay 1 now has a word limit of 500 words compared to 400 words in previous years. Hence, it is now more important to write a solid first essay for that strong first impression!

After discussing the 1st essay in our previous sessions, we will be focusing on how to answer the 2nd essay - "Why ISB"? in the session. We will also take your questions about ISB during the Q&A segment.

Join us, a team of ISB alumni, for our take on how to write your ISB essays. The ISB Admissions Gyaan Session #4, a 1-hour YouTube session, will be held on Saturday, 15 July 2017 at 12 Noon.

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06 Jul 2017, 02:38

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Applied to ISB before but did not get through?

Make sure you correct your mistakes before you reapply this year.

We, the team at Strategy4GMAT (all ISB alumni), would like to analyze your previous application to understand what went wrong and how we can present a better candidature this year. Just follow two steps and we will get in touch with you:

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Updated on: 06 Jul 2017, 21:55

Applying to ISB (or any top B-school) involves a lot of research – research about the school, the faculty, the class profile, recruiters etc. With a lot of research, come a lot of questions too! One common question that ISB applicants ask is whether to apply in Round 1 or Round 2. In this article, we talk about various factors considered while applying and why we believe applying in Round 1 is generally better than applying in Round 2.

1. Higher chance of scholarships: Most schools in India and abroad offer more scholarships in Round 1 than in any other round. For instance, ISB offers full tuition fee waivers only to Round 1 applicants and 50% of all merit and need-based waivers are also offered to Round 1 applicants. This is because Round 1 candidates are considered more serious about the school.

2.Lower applicant pool in Round 1: In our experience, we have seen that around 40% applicants apply in round 1 and the rest (60%) apply in Round 2. Hence, it is easier to stand out and thus have a higher chance of getting in in Round 1 as compared to Round 2.

3. A shot at all the seats: Round 1 allows you a shot at all the seats – around 40% of which would have already been taken by the time you apply in Round 2.

4. More time to be mentally prepared for the rigour: If you get an admission in Round 1 (results out in December first week), you get more time to be mentally prepared for the rigorous 1 year ahead. By experience, I can say that the one year at ISB (or any other top B-school) is far more rigorous than most jobs. I would go on to say that the year is so busy that you end up doing more things in a day than you would otherwise do in a week in life outside campus

5. Time to pursue other interests before MBA: Some applicants want to travel, pursue a passion / hobby before getting into B-school. If you apply in Round 1, you get more time to pursue your interests than in Round 2 which would barely allow you a month (Results out in March first week).

Having said this, some candidates apply to ISB in Round 2 as they target other schools (usually foreign schools) in Round 1. We understand that and agree with the strategy. However, they might be better off applying to all schools in Round 1 for the aforementioned reasons.

To sum up, Round 1 definitely makes more sense especially for the top priority / target schools. Apply early as long as you are not compromising on the quality of your application.

Join us, a team of ISB alumni, for our take on how to write your ISB essays. The ISB Admissions Gyaan Session #4, a 1-hour YouTube session, will be held on Saturday, 15 July 2017 at 12 Noon. Register for the session below and ask your questions too: https://goo.gl/forms/hKyr7c0aE0AjtkMl1

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06 Jul 2017, 22:31

Anandita04 wrote:

Hey!! How good are the chances of scholarship in round 1?

Good question! While it all depends on your profile, the chances are higher in Round 1 than in Round 2, as mentioned in the post above. Generally, profiles from non-traditional backgrounds have a higher chance of scholarship. Why don't we connect to evaluate your profile and discuss your chances of getting a scholarship.

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07 Jul 2017, 21:22

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Is my GMAT score high enough? How do I write my career goals in the essays? Do I apply in Round 1 or Round 2? What will be the RoI of an ISB MBA?

Planning to apply to ISB this year? These questions will be worrying you. We, as ISB alumni, understand your concerns. Find all the answers in the ISB Admissions Gyaan Session #4 [by Team Strategy4GMAT, all ISB alumni]

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12 Jul 2017, 01:10

strategy4gmat1 wrote:

Is my GMAT score high enough? How do I write my career goals in the essays? Do I apply in Round 1 or Round 2? What will be the RoI of an ISB MBA?

Planning to apply to ISB this year? These questions will be worrying you. We, as ISB alumni, understand your concerns. Find all the answers in the ISB Admissions Gyaan Session #4 [by Team Strategy4GMAT, all ISB alumni]

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Is my GMAT score high enough? How do I write my career goals in the essays? Do I apply in Round 1 or Round 2? What will be the RoI of an ISB MBA?

Planning to apply to ISB this year? These questions will be worrying you. We, as ISB alumni, understand your concerns. Find all the answers in the ISB Admissions Gyaan Session #4 [by Team Strategy4GMAT, all ISB alumni]

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26 Jul 2017, 05:54

The orientation week or the “O-week” as it is commonly referred to at ISB is the first glimpse for the class into the year that will be. The aim of this week is to let the class get to know each other, get familiar with the campus and pass-on the baton to the incoming class.

The activities for the whole week are organized by the recently-graduated alumni who start the preparations much before their session is over. Hence, in addition to completion of their final term assignments, examinations and goodbyes, they toil hard to ensure that the incoming class has a fun and learning experience.

The week starts off with the registrations followed by the Dean's dinner to formally welcome the incoming class which followed by a party hosted by the alums.

The following days are filled with activities such as the treasure hunt (which helps you know the campus better), club info sessions, section wars (through a number of sports events), full-day LEAD programme sessions, business simulation games, all-night parties, etc. The students are required to participate in ALL events!

With 3-4 hours of sleep every day and a bunch of such activities, the class quickly gets used to the rigor and fun that lies ahead.

The week is capped-off with the talent night wherein the true diversity of the class comes out and the current class shows their hidden (or apparent) talents such as dancing, music, acting, to name a few. Here are a few videos from previous O weeks to give you a sense of the fun-filled week and the life at ISB.

As soon as the week ends, the alums from the O-week team bid goodbye to the campus and leave their home in the hands of its new inhabitants.

Alumni Speak:"Living the O week and then Organizing it next year was one of my best experiences at ISB. That's when you discover how talent and diverse your cohort is." Manan Puri, ISB Class of 2013, Co-Founder, Strategy4GMAT

Application tip: ISB brings together a bunch of talented people in each class. Hence, you may talk about your talents and experiences outside of work which demonstrates a well-rounded profile. So feel free to talk about personal experiences in your application too. ISB is keen to know not only “what you have done” but also know “who you are”!

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31 Jul 2017, 07:19

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In the first edition of our 'Know Your B-School Better' series, we took you through the O-week journey (if you missed reading it, click here). Today, we'll give you an insight into the eye-opener - Term 1 at ISB!

The academic calendar at ISB is divided into 8 terms of about 6 weeks each. Each term has 4 courses (slight variations in terms 4 to 8, we'll cover in the coming weeks), 4 hours of classes per day from Monday to Thursday. Term 1 covers the concepts (and real world application) in accounting, micro economics, marketing and statistics.

You would’ve heard that ISB is a humbling experience. This term is a solid start to that. Most ISB students are used to finishing in the top 10 percentile throughout their academic endeavors and now you have all such individuals in one group, studying the same courses! Hence, you are bound to feel humble.For many students, it becomes a challenge to re-adjust to the academic rigor and cope with the competition on offer. You suddenly start appreciating weekdays more than weekends as they are more structured due to classes. The weekends are filled with assignments, case analysis submissions, quiz preparations, “pre-reads” etc.

Since a majority of the class comes with an engineering background, accounting and economics feel like the biggest nemeses. For commerce graduates, statistics is usually the problem area. However, the diversity kicks-in here and a few kind souls, CAs, Bankers, Engineers, etc., conduct peer-to-peer (P2P) sessions for rest of the class to sail through the examinations.

During o-week, a number of people you'll meet would have consulting as their career choice (which usually means good academic scores needed). As soon as the mid-term grades are out, this number reduces significantly. Suddenly, you will find a lot of peers telling you that they are 'here for the experience' as all scores are plotted on a normal curve (if you don’t know what it means, then brace yourself for the statistics storm!).

While all this is happening, you cannot help but admire the quality of Professors who teach you. The way they teach (for e.g. Economics concepts taught via Seinfeld!) and the depth of knowledge is unparalleled. Professors such as Prof. Robert Stine, who is literally the “God” in the field of Statistics or Prof. Jagmohan Raju, (one of the best names you'd find in the field of Marketing globally) are two of the many professors who fly down from the US (their home school is Wharton) to make your ISB experience much more worthwhile.

Term 1 is also the term when elections for the Graduate Student Board (more on this later in the series) and the clubs kick-off. Manifestos and soapboxes will help you put forward your candidature / know your candidates better (depending on which side you belong to). Take them seriously as electing the “right guy” for the job will go far in determining your experience as a class.

Alumni Speak:“While the mid-terms were an eye-opener, they helped me appreciate the fact that I was amongst the smartest people in the country. Contesting for the position of Director, Academic Affairs Council was another experience as it helped me gain confidence of presenting to and answering questions from such smart individuals.” Piyush Verma, ISB Class of 2016, Consultant, Strategy4GMAT

Application tip: Identify which GSB core position or professional club you would like to contest elections for and do research on it. While this helps showcase leadership, do not write it for the sake of it. Alumni / admissions committee members are very smart and experienced and can easily figure out when you have a genuine interest and you are faking it. In case you are well versed with any of the courses / areas taught in term 1, it would be good to mention that you'd translate that knowledge to the class via the P2P learning sessions.

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01 Aug 2017, 23:08

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In the earlier parts of the series, we covered the initial steps in the ISB journey, the O-week and Term 1 shenanigans (read them on our blog here: http://strategy4gmat.com/blogs.php). Today, we'll cover the engine which makes sure you get the most out of your experience at ISB, the Graduate Student Board (GSB).

According to ISB, “The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is an organization of the students of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). The organization is governed by the GSB and it comprises representatives elected by members of the GSA, i.e. all the PGP students.”

The GSB, along with the professional and social clubs (we'll cover them in a subsequent post), pretty much run the entire show throughout the year.The election process is similar to the one in any democracy (albeit healthier / cleaner competition, no left / right wings) with campaigning followed by soapbox presentations and voting. The campaigning starts mid-way through Term 1 and the elections are concluded by the start of Term 2. It is a lot of fun for all the folks involved in the process. From manifestos and soapbox presentations containing 'Game of Thrones' references to 'campaigning' via organizing parties, the candidates come-up with newer ways of asking for votes every year. Also, it is a bigger challenge to woo ~600 folks in Hyderabad than ~300 in Mohali, especially because the former cohort is spread across 4 student villages!

However, both campuses have exactly the same GSB structure and the elected representatives work together as a cohesive unit throughout the year.Apart from the GSB President, there are 7 councils, each having a Director who is the elected representative. She chooses the core team for the council based on the Expression of Interest (EoIs) and interviews of the interested candidates. Here are the details of the various positions within the GSB:

- GSB President: She is the captain of the ship and the face of the class for all major events pertaining to PGP, internal or external. All clubs and councils eventually report to her and she is accountable for the smooth functioning of all student-led activities throughout the year. This position is by far the most demanding in terms of time and effort required to fulfil the duties. In most cases, academics take a hit due to the sheer workload and hence is imperative to have a study group which understands the demands of the role and is willing to sometimes cover for you. However, we have also seen GSB Presidents in the past making it to the Dean’s list (top 10 %ile of the class)

- Academic Affairs Council (AAC): This council is the custodian of all academics-related topics for the students and works in conjunction with the Academic Services & Administration (ASA) department of ISB. Topics such as course / professor feedback, electives, P2P learning sessions, curriculum feedback, etc., are covered under its umbrella

- Alumni Affairs Council (ALC): The ALC is the connect between the students and the alumni. It works with the Alumni Affairs and Student Engagement & Applied Learning (SEAL) departments of ISB. It helps organize the flagship 'back-to-school' events such as Equinox at Mohali and Solstice at Hyderabad

- Career Advancement Council (CAC): The team which enables the process to get you a job, the CAC works with the Career Advancement Services (CAS) at ISB to run the placement process for the year. From managing the pre-work to the logistics during the placement 'days', the CAC members play a pivotal role in ensuring a smooth process. All this while they're also looking to secure their dream job!

- Marketing & Communications Council (MCC): The MCC takes care of all the internal and external branding / promotion of all the major events throughout the year. It is the custodian of 'brand ISB' for the year and manages various media and marketing initiatives during the year. For instance, the social media handle 'Life at ISB' is managed by the members of this council along with the media team of ISB

- Student Life Council (SLC): Although popularly known as the “party planners”, this group is also responsible for making the academic rigor at ISB much more enjoyable. The council organizes festivals and cultural events during the year. All social clubs report to the SLC Director and she is one of (if not the most) the more popular students on campus, sometimes even more than the President.Also, the role is equally demanding. While the other students are chilling out after the examinations, the council members are busy preparing for the fun events scheduled in the evening!

- Operations & Sustainability Council: This team works with the Operations department at ISB to cover all the facility-related topics on campus. From food & beverage and IT to the Learning Resource Center (LRC aka library) and student villages, all topics are managed by this council. This role is like electricity, you don’t realize the value of it until it stops functioning!

- Finance & Governance Council: This council was constituted in 2016 and includes the Financial (earlier under The Treasurer role) and the Governance (policy and performance measurement for professional and student clubs) at ISB. The council focuses on planning, monitoring and managing the financial budget of the GSB (including professional and social clubs), leads the 'Shadow a CEO' initiative and a few admissions-related new initiatives The students understand the importance of choosing the right people for these jobs since their whole ISB experience largely depends on how the GSB functions. The Directors and their teams on the other hand have an onerous task to living up to the expectations of the class.

Alumni speak: 'The GSB ensured that my one year at ISB is one of the best years of my life. I was able to focus on the goals I intended to accomplish at ISB, without worrying about how I'll get access to learning opportunities, wind-down after a tough term, utilize the world-class infrastructure at the school and have a smooth placement process!' Manas Arora, Class of 2013 and Consultant, Strategy4GMAT

Application gyaan: You can express your interest in leading or being a part of the core team of one of the councils. It is important to mention the exact role you'd like to perform to add value and it should link with the skill-sets or interests you demonstrate in the rest of your application. Like everything else at ISB, these positions of responsibility come at a trade-off and there is an opportunity cost (academics, sleep, etc ) so be prepared to answer such questions in the interview.

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08 Aug 2017, 02:04

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In our earlier post, we provided an overview of the Graduate Student Board (GSB). Today, we share a perspective on the clubs (professional and social) at ISB.Outside the lecture theatres and academics, almost anything you do at ISB would pertain to one (or more) of the student clubs.

There are two categories of clubs at ISB - professional (focusing on career interests and goals) and social (focusing on personal interests and hobbies). Each club has a president, who eventually reports to the GSB President. Like the GSB members, the club presidents are chosen through elections post extensive campaigning, manifestos, soapbox presentations, etc. The presidents then choose their core team based on expressions of interest (EOI) or interviews of the interested students.

Professional clubs provide a platform to apply classroom learning to the outside world. The clubs also help connect the students with alumni from various industries via speaker sessions, fireside chats, industry treks, etc. No surprises that the most popular professional clubs are Consulting, Marketing and Business Technology clubs since most of the students target these industries for placements. The students get an opportunity to vote for upto 3 clubs and automatically become members of those clubs. However, to encourage learning, there is no cap on the number of members in a club and anyone outside the club is free to attend events organized by it.

The social clubs bring out the diversity and talents of the class with events such as jam sessions, dance competitions / workshops, quizzes, GoT or El Clásico screenings, etc. The diversity ranges from the dance and music to clubs such as radio and wine & brew (yes, all spirits catered to!). The social club events are meant for unwinding after the hectic acads or picking up a new hobby which you won’t have time to explore otherwise.

The students can also form a new professional or social club given there is significant interest / consent (usually >50% of the class). They start with a Special Interest Group (SIG) to conduct a few activities to garner interest. The Public Policy Club was born out of such an initiative and currently there are 3 SIGs at ISB - Wildlife and Animal Welfare Enthusiasts (WAWE), Travel and Adventure, and Wellness.

All clubs work as a cohesive unit and you’d see one or more of these clubs organizing or participating in a number of events jointly. For e.g. the music club would perform a gig during the Bandhan celebrations led by the Net Impact Club or the photography club would cover almost all events on campus to get you those Facebook memories.

Application Tip: Based on your past experience or hobbies, you could mention about leading a club during ISB and also the kind of activities you’d like to drive. In case there are no clubs covering your intent, then an SIG could be an option. However, do check with an alumnus (or a current student) before choosing the SIG option. Like the GSB members, with great titles come greater responsibilities so be prepared to juggle a lot more activities and academics at the same time.

Alumni Speak:“Being the President of the Finance Club at ISB, the challenges of juggling a number of things came with opportunities to improve multi-tasking and time management skills, meet alumni and the who’s who of the financial industry, and lead and get work done from my peers, helping me develop my leadership skills.” Abhishek Chawla, Co-founder, Strategy4GMAT

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09 Aug 2017, 23:58

Last week, we gave an introduction to the academics at ISB via Term 1 and how getting 'back to school' mode is tough to manage for the class. Especially for the ones with more than 4-5 years of experience since they've been away from academics for long. Term 2 takes this to a whole new level!

Term 2 is when the actual 'Life at ISB' starts. In addition to the tough acads (we'll get to it later), club elections finish and the activities begin; inter B-school competitions kick-off; speaker sessions increase; core teams for Equinox (which takes place in September), Solstice, ILS, etc. are elected; and Aikya (to be covered in our next blog) is launched! Hence, the whole buffet is laid out for you and you can choose what to consume based on your appetite. However, it is not an easy choice because FOMO (fear of missing out) on anything always plays a part.

Did I say the acads are tough? This term has 4 courses- Competitive Strategy (CSTR), Global Economics (GLEC), Marketing Decision Making (MKDM) and Decision Models and Optimization (DMOP).

DMOP is by far the most dreaded course in the academic calendar. You either get it or you don’t, there are no shades of grey here! The fact that engineers have a tough time on this course leaves the non-engineers as headless chickens who stumble from pillar to post to make some sense out of the concepts! Having said that, the average score on the course has been steadily increasing over the years. This could be due to the YLP and EEO students who still remember the concepts from college and are more academically inclined.

Though the other courses are comparatively easier to manage, the sheer number of submissions takes up a lot of bandwidth. With the importance of class participation (CP) increasing, everyone wants to make a point in class!

Term 2 sets the tone for the year more than term 1 and teaches you how to prioritize and choose your battles (not literally!) wisely. Also, your friendships from o-week / term 1 strengthen, the bonds for life start blooming.

For your essays: In case you are well versed and familiar with the DMOP concepts, you could mention taking P2P sessions on the course to help fellow classmates. This would demonstrate your research on the academics and that you're aware of the pain points during the year.

Alum Speak: 'Coming from a sales & marketing background, I couldn’t make head or tail of DMOP and got to know that 'probability' is much more than its English or the arithmetic's basic definition I learnt in school. Thanks to my peers, I was able to avoid getting a low grade on the course.' Gaurav Phogat, Consultant, Strategy4GMATDespite the hardships of the course, the students don’t miss giving happy farewell's to the Professors (a tradition across all courses). Here are a couple of videos:

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10 Aug 2017, 00:02

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Please see the Rules thread for the ISB forum. Do not make a separate thread for posts like these - keep discussions in the ISB 2018 applicant thread - so use that. This will lead to warnings in the future.

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Today, we’ll cover the first major event of the year where a few professional and social clubs come together to organize it and set the ball rolling for the year- The Aikya Launch.

Aikya is a unique initiative by ISB to connect students with the local business community in Mohali and Hyderabad. Although the ‘business’ in those ‘connections’ is very limited.

The idea is to provide “a home away from home” since a number of students do feel the need for the warmth of a family setting. The Aikya families or (parents as they are fondly called) act as ‘foster’ families of students when they’re away from home, local guardians in a sense.The idea of the launch event is to introduce the families and students to each other and take the relationship forward. The event is like the 2ndTalent Night for the year after the o-week. The Music and Dance clubs usually perform their gigs and in a few cases the Theatre club also organizes a skit. The performances are followed by dinner and more conversations (and selfies) follow through the evening.

Then, the families and students carry forward their relationship throughout the year over a number of meetings and house-visits (which include lip smacking food!). A few large business houses have offered jobs to the students but that is not the intent of the program. This bond continues post-ISB as well and the students stay in touch with their Aikya parents.

Like all other initiatives, Aikya is a student-led initiative. An Aikya Coordinator is selected and she orchestrates the whole initiative, right from allotting families to students to working with the Marketing & Communication Council (MCC) to create buzz to organizing the launch event - collaborating with other social clubs. Since it’s the first major Student Life Council (SLC) event, it also acts as an ice-breaker with various departments at ISB such as Operations, Finance, Media team, etc.

For your essays: If you have organized large scale events in the past, you can mention that you’d like to continue the trend and get selected as the Aikya Coordinator to run the show. A lot of applicants do not mention this initiative in their essays so this could act as a differentiator.

Alum speak: “I instantly felt a connection with my Aikya family during the launch event. It didn’t seem as if we were meeting for the first time. We had a number of interactions during the year and I make it a point to visit them whenever I’m visiting the campus for alumni events” Abhishek Chawla, ISB alumnus and Co-Founder, Strategy4GMAT